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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say no to school over revision sessions

68 replies

TravellingSpoon · 20/09/2019 18:26

DD is in year 6. Came home tonight with a slip about after school tutor session that she has been given. It's on the night that she does art club and has done for 5+ years. She is distraught because they asked her to pick days that she could do, she put down Monday and Tuesday (couldn't pick Friday) and they have given her Wednesday.

Called the school and they can't change it. Letter says that children are expected to attend and basically guilt trips parents into believing that your child's whole life is going to be ruined if they don't attend.

Dd is doing well. This is coaching that all children receive after school, DD's is for maths where she is doing fine. She hasn't been asked to attend for literacy.

AIBU to tell them that she isn't going to be going? I could understand if it was her GCSE exams but this is primary school.

OP posts:
Topseyt · 20/09/2019 18:59

No! Tell them she won't be going. All this SATS bullshit is getting far too much now.

Children should be allowed to be children at that age. She goes to art club that evening, end of story. Tell them that. It is after school and cannot be enforced.

You say she is doing well in everything so I'm sure she will be fine.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 20/09/2019 19:03

Her art work comes 1st, Sats are for the benefit of the school not the child.

Cary2012 · 20/09/2019 19:06

High School teacher here. This is unacceptable for a Primary! Don't agree to this, keep your DD in the Art she loves. I run after school revision for the Year 11s, but it isn't compulsory. We also test our year 7s when they start, with our tests, so Year 6 SATs results whilst being useful for initial setting are not that important.
Where's the school in the league table OP? Teachers in a good school should be tackling concerns within the school day, not after.

Pieceofpurplesky · 20/09/2019 19:07

Secondary teacher here. Let her be a child and go to her art club. Regardless of after school revisions etc. her grade will be the same - sessions like this are more for the school to be able to say they do them than for the benefit of the child.

swingofthings · 20/09/2019 19:08

The same happened with DS in literacy. They also tried to say it was important for him to go, but he had a lesson (can't even remember what it was!) and I said no. They didn't insist. In the end, he got a level 6B in literature without it.

Don't worry about it.

Mummyshark2019 · 20/09/2019 19:12

Politely decline OP.

AlunWynsKnee · 20/09/2019 19:13

I didn't send dd for any of the revision classes. She did well anyway.

ScoutnX · 20/09/2019 19:13

They have after school studying for SATs now? That alone is totally unreasonable. I sucked at SATs - got to secondary school and found my stride. Got some really good grades that my SATs scores would never have predicted. SATs are for the school, not the child.

Schools should know more than anyone that's important for kids to keep to their commitments. Even in jobs now I state that I have certain commitments so can't work late on those evenings.

PriscillaTheHun · 20/09/2019 19:18

This demonstrates that your DDs school must be underperforming.

My DD is also in year 6. They have pretty much already covered the full Year 5 and 6 curriculum so are now just revisiting everything.

They have told us that they won't be mentioning sats to the kids or pressuring them. That all says prep will be during normal lessons and kept very low key. They also made a point of telling us parents that we aren't to pressure them either.

Pressuring them like this is out of order!

If your DD is doing well, tell the school to do one!

PuppyMonkey · 20/09/2019 19:20

DD’s school had a few extra half hour sessions before school - 8.30am i think - in the run up to SATs in May when she was in Year 6. Just for a week or two. Totally optional though. And not starting in bloody September.Confused

Original poster
TravellingSpoon · 20/09/2019 19:21

Thank you everyone, you have made me feel much better about saying no. Its bonkers. The school is a good school, so not failing, but it feels like hoy housing to me. She is doing a lunchtime club for literacy for children like her who should get the highest bracket, but both feel unnecessary.

Plus in the school newsletter there is a note from the head saying that he doesn't want families and children worrying about SATS. Errr we weren't until all this crap. It's September!

OP posts:
T0rt0ise · 20/09/2019 19:24

That's ridiculous. Let her do art club! As a secondary school teacher SATs mean naff all for the students and if she was mine she wouldn't even be doing the lunchtime club - she should be enjoying her last year at primary school!

youarenotkiddingme · 20/09/2019 19:28

I wouldn't even explain.

Return slip saying she can't attend if it has that option or just ignore.
If they ask just say "she can't attend on a Wednesday".

No sorry and no explanation (if you say art club they'll say it's just for 6 months or whatever and she has been doing that 5 years and can start again at secondary and this is ..... blah blah).

youarenotkiddingme · 20/09/2019 19:29

But it might not be for those who struggle. My ds is gifted at maths and he attended a session for those doing level 6 paper. (Old NC). But he wanted to attend and for him it was a fun club (he's a proper geek Grin)

Cathpot · 20/09/2019 19:33

Secondary teacher here- hot housing kids through SATs does them no favours at secondary as they end up with inflated target grades they then fail to meet all the way through school.

AlwaysCheddar · 20/09/2019 19:36

Another one to say no to school.

Beautiful3 · 20/09/2019 19:38

Tell them she cannot go as she already attends a club on Wednesday's. Its primary school!!!

MitziK · 20/09/2019 20:47

There will always be opportunities for extra work in Maths and English. But freedom to do Art for Art's sake? Unlikely.

Keep her in the activity that matters.

Reversiblesequinsforadults · 20/09/2019 20:53

Another teacher here, and I agree with everyone else. SATS shouldn't even be mentioned in September. The art club is way more important.

GorkyMcPorky · 20/09/2019 20:58

I wouldn't even agree to it in secondary. We have to run 'compulsory' sessions in which we cover skills that we teach in the 4.5 hours a week we see our KS4 students. If they make an effort in class they do fine anyway and if they don't, they either don't turn up to revision or begrudgingly attend and their efforts are similarly lacking. Pointless.

Iwantacookie · 20/09/2019 21:01

Yanbu our school has already started early morning revision sessions once a week.
I dont get it.

Snowdrop15 · 20/09/2019 21:04

Nobody asks for your Sats results in a job application do they? Therefore they are not important in my opinion. My child is in year 6 and we're not doing any kinds of SATs revision if it's offered. I'll carry on with the once a week homework that he's had in juniors but that's all.

Whatsyournameagain · 20/09/2019 21:08

Hell no, stand your ground! My DD had 2 after school SATs clubs a week from September onwards that we were told she had no choice but to attend, so we sent her to them. In July, her high school sent her a huge homework booklet of English and maths which she had to complete over the 6 week holidays, which basically was everything they had been tested on in their SATs anyway, so the whole thing was a complete waste of time. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Phaf · 20/09/2019 21:10

That's ridiculous

Phaf · 20/09/2019 21:13

Write back saying:
If you had concerns in progress why were you not informed before now.
2 why can't you teach her in allotted hours like every other teacher up and down the country does... obviously the school isn't discharging their duties in school hours if this is needed.